It was a joyous occasion for James to see Harry having fun as the day spent at the Burrow proved to be quite successful. The children decided to round Renata up for a game of hide-and-seek for most of the day, making her actively, the Seeker. But Harry and Ron joined her to seek the other children out, all of them bursting into giggles whenever they were found somewhere around the home or outside. And near the end, Bill and Charlie, Molly's oldest sons, managed to convince James to play a bit of Quidditch match with them. It mainly consisted of throwing back a homemade quaffle back and forth, but it was entertaining enough.

For a few stolen moments in time, James was able to enjoy himself, able to forget the thoughts that were plaguing him on a daily basis and just relax. He was able to see his son enjoy himself, he was able to see that Molly was still able to carry on as a strong woman despite her double losses within her family, and he was able to see that there were many things to be celebrated after the war.

Molly invited them all to stay for dinner, which James tried to get out of but she convinced him otherwise. Harry, of course, had tired himself out from the day of being chased around by chickens and a rooster, playing hide-and-seek, and just overall, having a good time. As James entered the Burrow, he found his son sound asleep in Renata's arms. She was sitting on the overstuffed sofa in the Weasley living room, remaining still as Harry's head came to rest on her chest, his little hand holding the front of her jumper. And nestled into her side was Ron as he had fallen asleep as well, remaining close to his newest friend's side.

"I have a feeling that these two are going to become inseparable for years to come," James whispered as he made his way over and sat across from her on a footstool.

"You missed it earlier," Renata told him, " Harry was trying to teach Ron the Hogwarts School song, it was absolutely precious. I can definitely see them becoming good friends and then imagine their adventures in Hogwarts."

James smiled slightly, it was nice to think of Harry going off to Hogwarts, only bittersweet to think that Lily wouldn't be there to witness it. Shaking his head, James tried to think of happier thoughts, not wanting to drag the mood down. It had been a good day and he didn't want to dampen spirits with his own troubled thoughts.

But when he looked up again, he could see that Renata was watching him, a troubled expression on her own face as if she could hear the thoughts that travelled through his mind. Little did he know that while she couldn't see into his head, James wore all of his emotions on his face very easily. She could see the pain in his eyes, not fooled by the smile he forced onto his face.

Mainly because Renata was an Empath as discovered when she was very young, mostly by her professors and others that she came into contact with. But it was her brother, Adelmo, that had figured out the coined term for what she was. Renata from a very early time in her life had always been able to pick up on the emotions around her, no matter who the person was. She could feel the happiness of their energy or the draining nature of their sadness. She could easily be overwhelmed by anger, even if it wasn't directed towards her.

But she could feel the emotions of others and it often led her feeling quite stuck with many situations. While many saw it as stupid of her to open up the cages of all the animals in the Owl Emporium, Renata couldn't help herself. She could feel the pain of the creatures that were locked up that only wanted to be free to fly around as they pleased.

It sounded silly and many could just claim that she was highly sensitive, but there was so much more to it. There was a reason as to why Adelmo was worried about her taking on such a task that came with such heavy baggage because Renata was going to be able to feel James' emotions. He could claim that he was fine, he could claim that nothing was wrong, but she would know better.

"If you'd like, Mr Potter, we could return to your home," Renata suggested, " you look quite tired. Perhaps you and Harry would like to call it an early night?"

"As much as I want to," he began, " Molly expects us to stay for dinner-"

"I think she would be more than understanding if you wished to head home," Renata told him, " she seems very kind and understanding. I don't think she would hold it against you. Besides, I don't think Harry will be doing much eating tonight and if you're hungry, there is still spaghetti left over or I can cook you something before I head home."

James realised that while he was feeling tired and obviously Harry was practically out for the night, Renata was probably quite tired herself after spending the entire day with them. She had been much more active as well when it came to playing with the children, so maybe this was her way of politely telling him that she didn't wish to stay longer, she just wanted to get home and go to bed.

"I suppose you're right," he began, moving to stand up so he could find Molly, but before he could leave Renata spoke again.

"Unless you really want to stay, Mr Potter," she added quickly as if she was going to be in trouble for voicing her offer earlier, " I don't mind if you wish to stay."

Knowing that Renata was already accommodating enough for him and Harry, James shook his head no, reassuring her that it was probably best if they head out and call it a night. He offered a genuine smile, one that told her that it wasn't a problem before he left the room to tell Molly that they were going to be leaving.

Once they left the Burrow with the invite to come back whenever they wanted, James and Renata returned to the Potter flat with Harry. With Harry still attached to her, Renata led the way to his room in order to place him down in his bed. He didn't fuss as she placed him down, he simply rolled over and grabbed a teddy bear to clutch tightly to his chest. Renata smiled before smoothing her hand over the top of his head, flattening his hair for only a few seconds before it popped right back up in its disorderly state. With a soft chuckle, she turned to leave, only to find James in the doorway, which caused her to jump slightly.

She hadn't heard him follow her to the room, thinking that he probably went off to his bedroom or to the kitchen. 

His eyes were settled on Harry before he peered up at her and Renata wondered if he was going to say anything. However, he remained silent, leaving her to be the one to open up the conversation.

"Is there anything you'd like me to do before I leave?" she asked him. "Did you want the spaghetti or would you like me to fix you something else? I can make-"

"No, it's fine, I can eat the spaghetti," James said, " I rather not let it go to waste. I just wanted to thank you for all of this. You know, coming in and just basically taking charge of the situation. I know the other night I made it sound terrible with the offering of money. But really, for everything that you're doing, I can pay you more, I feel like it's only right. I don't even know if it would be appropriate to call you a nanny anymore."

"What would be the appropriate term then?" she questioned in confusion.

"I don't know," James shrugged his shoulders. "I honestly don't know. But you're a lot more than a nanny, that's for sure."

"Well, I'm glad to help in any way that I can," she began, only to have James cut her off.

"Why?"

The question caught her off guard as she didn't have an answer right away because she wasn't sure what he was asking. "Why what?"

"Why did you agree to help?" he asked her. "You were so willing to just help right away, no questions asked and that was even before last night when I basically confessed that I was pathetic when it came to looking after my own son."

"Mr Potter, I do not find you to be pathetic, nor should you look at yourself in such ways," Renata said. "You have been through so much and perhaps that's what I saw. That you've been through so much and yet you continue on and you keep the best interest for Harry close to your heart. He is your priority and there are parents out there who have never been close to what you've been through and they couldn't even be bothered to look twice in the direction of their children."

Not wishing to disturb Harry as the boy continued to sleep, she led the way out of the room and closed the door behind them so that they were standing in the hallway.

"I think it's better for people to ask for help sooner rather than later," she continued, " and if I can actually help someone or more than one person, than I gladly will. I guess that's just been part of my nature, it's not a bad thing, is it?"

"No, not at all," James answered, " but at any time where this becomes too much for you, you're free to leave, you know that, right? I won't hold it against you."

"And when you no longer need me, you are free to cut ties with him and there will be no harsh feelings, Mr Potter."

"Cut ties with you?" he suddenly laughed. "Oh right, that would go over well with Harry, he'd try to kill me in my sleep if I cut ties with you. He's rather attached to you already if you hadn't noticed. What's your secret?"

Renata laughed a little herself before she gave a shrug of her shoulders. "Who knows? Maybe I smell good to him, " she said before the two of them exchanged smiles, content with the end of their conversation. "Good night, Mr Potter."

"Good night, Renata. I'll see you in the morning."

"Bright and early. I'll be showing you how to make breakfast."

After Renata left, James entered his own room as the flat fell silent. He made his way to the bathroom for a shower as he prepared himself for bed. He was definitely feeling tired, not even holding enough energy to eat, even though he promised Renata that he wouldn't let the spaghetti go to waste. The shower didn't provide him with much energy either, instead, it only left him more tired as he climbed into bed afterwards.

Filled with happier thoughts that Renata didn't find him to be pathetic and that it had been a good day, James buried his face into his pillow and started to drift off. But despite how good of a day it had been, James' mind was left free to wander as he slept, leaving him to fall back into a world of nightmares. He could see fallen members of the Order, from Lily, Gideon and Fabian, Marlene McKinnon, members of the Bones family, and so many others that had unfortunately lost their lives to the cause of bringing down Voldemort and his followers.

He stood before all of them, feeling terrible as he knew that they were not really there, that they were all dead. And while in some way he was happy to see them, none of them looked happy to see him.

Lily especially looked angry with him as she stared at him with narrowed eyes that left James to start tearing up.

"Lils, don't look at me like that," he whispered to her, " I tried...I tried to save you. I tried to save everyone that I could."

"I knew it was a mistake marrying you," Lily told him in such a cold voice that it left James to shiver, "I knew it and I just couldn't convince myself to leave. For Harry's sake, I stayed with you, but that didn't do us any good, did it? I should have taken him and left at the first opportunity I had."

"No, you don't mean that," James said, " you don't mean that. You were happy when we had Harry, you were happy on our wedding day-"

"You thought I was happy, you fooled yourself into believing that!" she spat at him. "But I was never happy! Not with you. I was happy when Harry was born because he was my son and that's it, it had nothing to do with you!"

"No, Lily, you loved me, and I love you-"

"You love me?!" she laughed in a harsh, yet mocking manner that left James practically in tears as he stood before her. "You love me, is that why you've only waited about two years before inviting another woman into your life?"

"Wh- no! It's not like that, Lils! Renata isn't...it's not like that, I swear. She's just helping me-"

"Helping you get over me," Lily said, " it shouldn't be hard since you never loved me to begin with. You just loved the idea of me."

"No, Lily, that's not true! That's not true and you know it!"

He attempted to plead with her, but it appeared as though Lily was not listening to anything. She had made up her mind not to believe him and as he begged her to listen, she simply turned her back to face him and started walking off. He tried to go after her, grab her by the arm and make her stay, but before he could even reach out and touch her, she vanished.

All of the fallen members of the Order vanished, leaving James to collapse in the dark void he had been left in.

Unlike the horrendous night that James had, Renata slept well and woke up early the next morning to head to the Potter household. She was in a better mood, ready to take on the challenge of the day after reassuring James the night before that she was helping him, not judging him. So, maybe she wasn't just a nanny anymore, but it still worked for her, she was ready to help Harry and James in any way that she needed to. She hoped that she was enough and if not, she hoped she could at least get them both onto the right path that would lead them to happiness.

Arriving down the road from the Potter flat after a bit of distracted apparating trip, Renata decided to walk the rest of the way, only to see a man walking the pavement coming from the opposite direction. She figured he was going to walk past her, but instead, it seemed that they were heading in the same direction as they met at the stairs.

They both seemed equally confused by the presence of the other as they came to a full stop at the same time.

"Sorry, are you-" he pointed towards the door with a curious gaze in his eyes. He was a handsome man, despite the tattered look to him with the shabbier robes and the marks on his face. He looked tired, very similar to how James looked and Renata wondered if he was a member of the Order that had seen better times. His green eyes went well with his brown hair that looked as though he had tried fixing it after waking up but it had been lost to the winds that blew heavy that morning.

"I'm Renata," she introduced herself, " I work for Mr Potter, are you a friend of his?"

"Actually, yes," he said, before introducing himself, " I'm Remus. I didn't know that James had anyone working for him."

"Well, it's only been as of recently," she said, " just a few days really. I work as a nanny for Harry. You're Remus...Lupin, right? He's spoken about you a lot, I just haven't had the chance to meet you yet. I've met his other friend, I believe his name is Sirius-"

She noticed immediately as he tensed up at the mention of the name, a sour look taking to his face that made her think she was better off just leaving it off at the introductions."

"Um, well," Renata cleared her throat as she shuffled her feet awkwardly, " I was just about to head inside, hopefully, get some breakfast started. Will you be joining us?"

"I don't want to intrude-"

"Nonsense," she said, " I think James would like the company and I don't mind making extra."

The two of them walked up the few steps before Renata knocked on the door and yet, there was no answer. She knocked a couple of times more before Remus took to knocking as well, but still, James didn't answer the door.

"Here," Remus said pulling out his wand from his sleeve, " allow me, he won't mind."

Using his wand to unlock the door, Remus opened it and within seconds, they were greeted by the sounds of Harry crying, but no James. Remus entered first, knowing something was wrong as Renata followed quickly to make sure that Harry was alright. As Remus went to find his friend, Renata found Harry in his room, crying as he remained alone in his bed. She made her way over and collected him in her arms, wondering why he was crying to himself and where the hell was James?

Remus had the answer though as he entered James' room to find his friend, his brother, just laying on the bed, staring blankly at the wall. It seemed he had entered a state of sorts where he was ignoring everything around him, even the sounds of his son crying.

He didn't respond to his name being called or Remus shaking him, he just remained still on his bed, silent.

There was something terribly wrong.